A Nicholl for your thoughts? (part 2)

I received my email from the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Competition this weekend informing me that I did not advance to the quarterfinals. While I was disappointed, there was a silver lining as I scrolled down to the last line of the email:

“PS: Your script received two positive reads.“

According to their FAQ, that means my script was in the top third of entries. One more positive read and this is a whole different post. Not bad, considering…

Over the last month, I’ve been given some extremely valuable feedback on the script from a manager, a writer/director, and another working screenwriter. So, while I secretly wished I would advance further in the contest, down deep I knew the script would not go as far as I had originally hoped.

But that’s okay, because I’m not spending one second in sour grapes blaming the system or cursing the names of unnamed, misguided readers who don’t “get it.” It’s a professional contest with a great system. I’m lucky to be able to move forward working on changes driven by solid notes that I feel will make the script twice as good… Progress!

Best of luck to everyone who advanced — may you all experience huge success!!